Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:72
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 72 of 96
ءَأَنتُمْ أَنشَأْتُمْ شَجَرَتَهَآ أَمْ نَحْنُ ٱلْمُنشِـُٔونَ
Translation
is it you who make the wood for it grow or We?
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Is it you who produced its tree, or are We the Producer?' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the tracing-back: the spark is struck by me, but the wood that holds the fire, the tree that grew the wood, the whole chain of combustion I merely trigger, all of it is His making. Ask yourself: I strike the match and feel like the maker of fire, forgetting that everything the fire consumes and everything that makes fire possible was grown and arranged by Another. It is the perfect small parable of all human 'creation': I rearrange and ignite what I was given; I originate nothing. This verse quietly dismantles the last of my Promethean pride. If even fire, my proudest 'invention', is really just a gift I learned to release, what have I ever truly made from nothing?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:72 is discussed in 5 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:72 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.